skiing with dog

I haven't heard anyone mention what seems to me the most important consideration of skiing with your pooch... which is mitigating the chance of the dog receiving leg injuries from ski edges. I've seen folks deal with it various ways  from just hoping, to extremely well trained dogs that stay well away from the sides and in front of skiers. Some like to put the dog on a stay command and ski down a ways and then have them come.

I have heard of dogs receiving nasty cuts from ski edges, sometimes severing ligaments. Luckily I haven't wittnessed it although I have almost run into other folks dogs that have come from behind and over taken me too close for comfort.

How do all you skiers with dogs deal with the dog safety issue?

Easy!
Ski faster than the dog!
Chugach is nearly as slow as a telemarker..... haha .

I think as long as you are aware of your dog's tenancies you should be able to avoid contact. My first Berner always liked to lead but I would often overtake him then wait for him to catch up. We never had anywhere near making contact on the ride down.

You gotta mitigate the shite, for sure. Not fun for others to find later.

I've grown up with dogs, had em my whole life, and am a big fan of canine companionship. That said, though, you really have to exercise your human prerogative to see trouble, and possibly leave the pup at home even when you want to bring em out for your own enjoyment. As previously noted, the dog will follow, Follow, FOLLOW you even if the are pushing themselves into a bad situation. I've ridden extensively with a black lab/pit mix and a aussie shepherd/rott(?) mix, and I almost killed the lab (from heat exhaustion, mt biking in the summer). They will keep going till they drop, and you really need to watch that and be able see it coming, cause they won't back off. And killing (or almost) your dog is a bad feeling, trust me.

I went skiing with Peter and Baldwin and Charlie the dog. Charlie used to have trouble with snow and ice between his toes until his human showed him how to bite it off. He had to do it a few times for him until Charlie learned to do it himself! Yum.

Easy!
Ski faster than the dog!
Chugach is nearly as slow as a telemarker..... haha .

Hey buddy, you think just because I'm out of the country, it means you're going to be able to slip that by?

faster then a telemarker, but dumb enough to follow a snowboarder..

your dog(or someone elses) is going to follow you wherever you go, and sometimes try and take the shortest route to get to you. There is a very sad thread on TGR. Maybe the worse possible case scenario. A guy had to leave his dog on an exposed cliff, and have yet to reunite...

www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.p...light=siberian+husky

My dog isn't the sharpest, but it only took him one time to realise my edges where. A little OEC, and he was good to go... other then the severed tendon.